Disney Delays Live-Action ‘Mulan’ to 2020

A copy of Disney’s updated release schedule made its way online, and it’s a list worthy of the man blinking-in-disbelief GIF. There’s a whole bunch of untitled Marvel and live-action releases, but it was the first movie on the list — one of only a couple with an actual title — that initially caught our eye. That would be Mulan, the upcoming live-action reimagining of the studio’s 1998 animated film, which has apparently been pushed back two whole years.

The New York Times’ Brooks Barnes revealed the updated Disney schedule, which lists Mulan at the top:

The film, set to be directed by Niki Caro, was scheduled for November 2, 2018. It will now arrive on March 27, 2020. That’s a pretty big delay — but one that may be worth it if the studio is using this time to really get the story and casting right. Disney is committed to casting native actors for the live-action retelling of their animated musical (which was in turn loosely based on an epic Chinese ballad), and as of now, the only name they’ve signed is Yifei Liu — a famous Chinese model and actress.

The delay could also signal that things aren’t going very well for Mulan, which was met with early criticism by those who worried about potential whitewashing from a studio that doesn’t exactly have the best track record with diversity — despite some recent progress.